Valve-spring compressor



Feb. 2.

L. REED VALVE SPRING COMPRESSOR Filed Sept. 27, 1923 I N VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY:

Patented Feb. 3, 1925.

1 2 3E Y s TA r LESTER REED, OF SERINGFIELI), M AS$ACHUSETTS VALVE-SPRING COMPRESSOR.

Application filed September 27, 1923. Serial No. 665,037.

To all whomz't may Genre m:

Be it known that l, Lnsrnn Rani), a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Valve-Spring Compressor, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in devices or appliances with which to compress .thev valve springs, in internal-combustion engines, in order to enable the pins employed to hold such springs under compression to be inserted orremoved, and con sists essentially of a frame of special con struction provided at the bottom with a forked'support or stirrup and having at the top above said stirrup a sleeve or head, a tubular member adjustably held in said head, a plunger slidingly arranged in said tubular memberand provided with a centering member below the bottom of said plunger, said centering member preferably being adjustable and removable, an operating lever or arm pivotally connected with said tubular member at the upper terminal thereof, and a link pivotally connected with said plunger and with said arm, together with such other parts and members as may be necessary or desirable in order to render the device or compressorcomplete in every respect, all as hereinafter set forth.

The primary object of my invention is to produce a simple, comparatively inexpensive, and convenient device, of the-character described above, which consists of few parts, can be readily adjustedto adapt it for the compression of springs of different lengths, and is strong and durable. This compressor is simple in operation as well as in construction, possesses a range of adjustment that renders said compressor applicable to a very large number of different kinds and sizes of valve mechanisms, and is of a nature or character that permits parts to be substituted or changed in the event breakage occurs, or if it be desired for some other reason to replace an old part or a part already in place.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the course of the following description.

I attain the objects and secure the advantages of my invention by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 Isa side elevation in partlal section of a valve-spring compressor which mbodies a practical form of my invention, the plunger being in elevated or retracted position; Fig. 2, a side elevation of said compressor, with said plunger in its extreme downward or most advanced position; Fig. 3, a cross section through a portion of the compressor, taken on lines 33 looking down in Fig. 1, and, Fig. 4, a top plan of the stirrup.

Similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout the several views. The compressor consists in part of a frame which comprises along horizontal arm 1 at the top, a short horizontal arm 2 at the bottom, and a connecting member 4 with which said top arm forms an acute angle and said bottom arm forms an obtuse angle. The connecting member 4 is, therefore, oblique to the arms 1 and 2. The frame thus constructed is especially well adapted to be applied to a valve mechanism for the purpose of compressing the spring of such mechanism, as will be readily understood. At the outer or free end of the arm 1 is a vertical split sleeve or head 5 having a pair of outwardly-extending lips 6 transversely perforated to receive a bolt '4'. Preferably the opening for the bolt 7 in one of the lips 6 is angular, and that part of said bolt which is adjacent to the bolt head is angular and receivable in said opening, means being thus affordedto prevent the bolt from rotating. A thumb-nut 8 is provided for thethreaded terminal of the bolt 7. The bolt 7 is first passed through the lip 6 in which is the angular opening' for the same, and then through the open ing in the other lip for said bolt, and the thumb-nut 8 is applied to the bolt outside of said last-named lip. By tightening the thumb-nut 8 the lips 6 are drawn toward each other and the split head 5 is contracted. A horizontal passage 9 is provided in the arm 2, and said passage opens through the outer or free end of said arm. The passage 9 is angular in cross section. A supporting member or stirrup 10 has at the inner end a rearwardly-extending shank 11 that is receivable in and fits the passage 9 in the arm 2, and is held therein by means of a screw 12 tapped into one side of said arm. There is a vertical notch 13 in-the side of the shankll to receive the inner end of the screw. 12. The screw 12 thus holds the shankll securely in place in the arm 2, and the stirrup 10 is rigidly attached by said shank to said arm. The stirrup 10 is forked and flanged, substan tially as shown, to render the same capable of receiving the supporting member beneath a valve spring. The shank 11 is above the bottom of the stirrup 10 and consequently a shoulder, as 14, is formed by the back side of said stirrup to bear against the front end of the arm 2, when the stirrup is in place.

Upon loosening the screw 12 the stirrup 10 can be removed and another stirrup substituted therefor, provision thus being made for utilizing stirrups of difierent sizes to accommodate. the compressor to valve spring-supported members of difierent sizes.

A vertical tubular member or sleeve 15 is provided for the split head 5, and said sleeve is secured in said head by means of the thumb-nut 8 and the bolt 7 when said thumb-nut is tightened. Upon loosening the thumb-nut 8, the sleeve 15 can be adjusted vertically and about its axis. The vertical adjustment of the. sleeve 15 accommodates the compressor to alve mechanisms of different heights or lengths, and the rotary adjustment of said sleeve enables the operating member of the compressor, which consists of a lever 16, to be located or disposed in the. most convenient position for use.

Slidingly arranged in the sleeve 15 is a plunger 17. The plunger 17 is provided at the bottom with a centering member 18 to engage the center of a valve from above. Preferably the. centering member 18 is tapped into an axial passage 19 in the plunger 17 which passage opens through the bottom of said plunger. Additional means for vertical adjustment are thus provided, since the centering member 18 can be screwed up and down in the passage 19 and thus locate the outer terminal of said member nearer to or farther from the bottom of the plunger 17. The centering member 18 is provided with a fixed nut 20 to facilitate the adjustment of said member, and a setnut 21 is screwed onto said member above said fixed nut to bear against the bottom of the plunger 17 and lock the member in place after adjustment. After turning the centering member 18 downwardly the set-nut 21 is screwed up against the bottom of the plunger 17, and after turning said set-nut down on said member and screwing the latter up in said plunger the set-nut is screwed up against the bottom of the plunger.

The operating lever 16 is angular and consists of a short arm which is pivoted at 22 to the upper terminal of the sleeve 15, and a long arm which forms a handle. A. portion of this handle is broken off in Fig.

1. The sleeve 15 is slotted at the top, as at 23, to receive the pivetally connected portion of the lever 16 and permit the. same to be operated. A link 24 has its upper terminal pivotally connected at 25 with the free terminal of the short arm of the lever 16, and its lower terminal pivotally connected at 26 with the upper terminal of the plunger 17. The free terminal of the shortarm of the lever 16 is recessed, as at 27, to receive and accommodate the upper terminal of the link 24, and the upper terminal of the plunger 17 is recessed, as at 28, to receive and accommodate the lower terminal of said link. The sleeve 15 is slotted, as at 29, to accommodate the link 24 and the short arm of the lever 16, and permit said link and the major portion of said arm to enter said sleeve.

When the handle of the lever 16 is erect the short arm of said lever is in an CIPPIOXF mately horizontal position or parallel with the frame arm 1, the link 24 is obliquely disposed and the greater portion of the same is outside of the sleeve 15, and the plunger 17 is in its most elevated position, substantially as shown in. the first view. Upon grasping the handle of the lever 16 and rocking said lever on the pivot 22 to carry said handle over into an approximately horizontal position, or into a position parallel with the frame arm 1, the short arm of said lever forces the link 24 downwardly and with it the plunger 17, until said link and said short arm have passed, the former ncompletely, through the slot. 29 into the sleeve 15, when the parts and members are disposed substantially as shown in Fig. 2, said plunger then'being in its lowest position. Upon rocking the lever 16 on the pivot 22 into its former position, the short arm of said lever and the link 24 in greater part pass out of the sleeve 15 through the slot 29, and said link and the plunger 17 are drawn upwardly.

It is to be understood that the plunger 1? is positioned directly over the stirrup 10, or so located that the axis of said plunger, it continued downwardly, would pass through the axial center of said stirrup.

In practice, the compressor is slipped into place withthe stirrup 10 below the spring which it is desired to compress, or beneath an intervening washer or other member, and with the. centering member 18 above the valve with which said spring is associated, and then the handle of the lever 16 is grasped and swung'ove-r the frame arm 1. with the result that the frame, with said stirrup is drawn upwardly, through the medium of the link 24, plunger 17 and sleeve 15, and said spring is correspondingly compressed.

T Vhile the valve spring is under compression, the pin which confines the same in place below the valve is taken out, "thereby making it I possible to remove said spring 5 after takmg'away the coi'npressor'." Before taking a 'ay the compressor, it is necessary, of course, to swing the han'dle'of the lever 16 upwardly and tl'ius'lower the frame with the stirrup 10 to an extent suficient' to release the spring.

When it is desired to replace the spring, the compressor is employed to compress the same to enable the pin to be inserted in the valve-stem, and then, after said pin has been inserted, said spring is released to the restraint afforded by said pin, the opera tion of the compressor being the same in this as in the first case.

It has not been deemed necessary to encumber this application with illustrations of a valve and its spring, together with the other closely connected or associated parts and members of the valve mechanism, because the application and operation of my compressor will be sufficiently well understood without such illustration.

More or less change in matters of shape, size, construction, and arrangement of the parts and members, of the compressor herein shown and described, may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or exceeding the scope of what is claimed.

I am aware that frames provided with bottom supports, plungers, and operating means for such plungers have been variously combined and used before for the purpose of compressing valve springs, and do not, therefore, seek to claim such a combination broadly.

lVhat I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in a valve-spring compressor, with a frame having top and bottom arms and a connecting member, said arms and frame being integral of a support carried by said bottom arm, a sleeve carried by and adjust-able in said top arm, means to lock said sleeve after adjustment, a plunger in said sleeve, an operating lever pivotally connected with and fulcruming on said sleeve at the top, and a link pivotally connected with said plunger and one termi nal of said lever, the fulcrum point of said lever being intermediate of the ends thereof.

2. The combination, in a valve-spring compressor, with a frame having upper and lower arms, said lower arm having a passage therein, a stirrup having a shank which is receivable in said passage, said shank having a notch in one side thereof, and a screw tapped into one side of said lower arm to engage the notched part of said shank, of a sleeve carried by said upper arm, a plunger in said sleeve, and means to operate said plunger.

3. The combination, in a valve-spring compressor, with a frame having upper and lower arms, all parts of said frame being integral, and said lower arm being provided with a supporting member, of an adjustable sleeve carried by said upper arm,'means to secure said sleeve after adjustment in said upper-arm, a plunger in said sleeve, and

means to actuate said plunger, said sleeve being adjustable vertically and about its axis, first, for the purpose of increasing and decreasin the distance between the base of said sleeve and said supporting member, and, second, for the purpose of disposing of said actuating means in the most convenient position.

4. The combination, in a valve-spring compressor, with a frame having upper and under arms, all parts of said frame being integral, and said under arm being provided with a supporting member, of a sleeve carried by said upper arm, a plunger in said sleeve, an operating lever pivotally connected at a point intermediate of its ends with said sleeve at the top, and a link pivotally connected with and extending upwardly from the top of said plunger to be pivotally connected with one terminal of said lever.

5. The combination, in a valve-sprin compressor, with a frame having upper an under arms, said under arm being provided with a supporting member, of a slotted sleeve carried by said upper arm, a plunger in said sleeve, an operating lever pivotally connected with said sleeve, and alink pivotally connected with said plunger and said lever, the construction and arrangement of parts being such that, when said lever is rocked in one direction, contiguous portions of said lever and said link pass through the slot in said sleeve into the latter.

6. The combination, in a valve-spring compressor, with a frame having upper and lower arms, all parts of said frame being integral, said lower arm being provided with a supporting member, and said upper arm having a split head, of a sleeve arranged for free adjustment in said head, means to contract said head on said sleeve to secure the latter after adjustment, a plunger in said sleeve, an operating lever pivotally connected with and fulcruming on said sleeve at the top, and a link pivotally connected with and extending upwardly from the top of said plunger to be pivotally connected with one terminal of said lever, the fulcrum point of said lever being intermediate of the ends thereof.

7. The combination, in a valve-spring compressor, with a frame having upper and under arms, said under arm being provided with a supporting member, and said upper arm having a split head, of a slotted sleeve in said head, means to contract said head on said sleeve, a plunger in said sleeve, an operating lever pivotally connected with said sleeve, and a link pivotally connected with said plunger and said lever, the contiguous portions of said lever and link being adapted to enter and leave said sleeve through the slot therein, when said lever is rocked on its pivot.

8. The combination, in a valve-spring compressor, with a frame comprising a long upper arm, a short lower arm, and a connecting member which forms an obtuse angle with said upper arm and an acute angle with said lower arm, said lower arm being provided with a supporting member,

and said upper arm having a split head, 15 of a slotted sleeve in said head, means to contract said head on said sleeve, a plunger in said sleeve and provided with a centering member, an operating lever pivotally connected with said sleeve, and a 20 lini; pivotally connected with said plunger and said lever, contiguous portions of said link and lever being adapted to enter and leave said sleeve through the slot therein.

LESTER REED.

Witnesses v F. A. CUTTER, C. C. WEsT. 

